where the two cultures meet

Virtual Lust

The regulation of three hormones in the human brain is being discussed this week, while notices appear of new fictional works about virtual lust: a novel, a film and a computer game.

They concern hormones that tell the human brain how to feel about lust, and some would say, love. And like many drugs, lust shows characteristics of addiction: higher doses are needed after prolonged use, users become dependent, withdrawal gives unpleasant symptoms, and they want to relapse after abstinence.

Serotonin is an anti-depressant which can make loving difficult. What’s more, low levels of the hormone are found in patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and in people deeply in love –

Oxytocin induces feelings of attachment and faithfulness to another; there are low concentrations in mammals that behave polygamously.Some pharmacologists have even suggested that love comes to an end when oxtocin levels fall below a certain level –

The meaning of these biochemical responses is not lost on the three latest creators of virtual art. One is the writer D Levy with Love and Sex with Robots.

Then there is Jonze’s 2014 film Her, telling what happens when a man falls in love with a computer operating system.

Also recently, in Japan, a man has publicly betrothed Nene, a character in the 2006 Nintendo game Love Plus.